Love's True Destiny

Hearing her name, Bella looked over to the guys in time to catch Ethan say something about leaving tomorrow. Perking up, she listened as they mentioned Florida and how they needed to drive her there as opposed to flying since she couldn't show her ID at the airport without alerting the men after her to where she currently was and where she was heading. As they continued to map out a strategy, Bella's anger rose as, once again, they continued making decisions that affected her without consulting with her about anything. While she appreciated their help and knew that she'd probably be dead right now without them, it was her choice on how she wanted to move forward. She thought she had made that clear to them the last time they were busy mapping out her life. Maybe the best thing was to give the men hunting her the tape in her possession and disappear. Bora Bora might be a nice place to hide for a while, she surmised. If they tracked her down to kill her there, at least it was a warm tropical place to die. She'd always wanted to see that place. Getting up from the couch, Bella grabbed the tape from the VCR and headed to the steps. She'd had all the male testosterone she could handle for one night. She was emotionally maxed out at this point. The men were back who had tried to kill her, the men in the room weren't bothering to include her in decisions about her own life, and she just spent the last few hours reliving a childhood she missed and would never get back. Ethan noticed her leaving the room and was shocked when he called her name and she turned to him with tears in her eyes. It was obvious that she was holding on by a thread. "Bella?" he questioned as he followed to where she was standing and took a hold of her hand. Bella pulled away from him, clutching the tape in her hand. "I'm going to hand this tape over to the men hunting me, then I'm disappearing to some island to live out whatever time I have left. "You can't be serious," he argued. "I can't? Have you even asked me? In all your plotting and strategizing, did it ever occur to you to ask me what I thought about what I wanted to have happen? Do you think the futility of my life escapes me? I'm as good as dead and you don't think I might have an opinion about how I want that to happen?" she ended almost hysterically. "I want it on my terms, Ethan. This is my tape...my evidence...and I'll decide what to do with it." "Did it ever occur to you that I'm trying my damnedest to make sure you don't die, Isabella," Ethan yelled back, stepping closer to her. "That maybe I care too much to let that happen? Do you think I don't lie awake worrying how the hell I'm going to make sure my decisions don't get us all killed?" Several seconds passed as Ethan and Isabella stood toe to toe, staring each other down, breathing heavily. When neither said anything, Travis stepped between them. "Bella," he encouraged softy, Ethan at his back. "Why don't we sit down and talk about the ideas we came up with and then you can decide how you want us to handle things. We didn't mean to exclude you. It's our instinct to protect and I'm afraid in our enthusiasm, once again, we lost sight of how it affects you. Will you listen to what we came up with before you decide what to do?" "Yeah...because just handing the tape over to men looking to murder you is such a great idea," Ethan mumbled sarcastically under his breath. Bella leaned around Travis. "I heard that and I wasn't really going to do it, jackass. I was trying to make a point." Ethan looked over to his brother as Travis led Bella to the couch. "Did she just call me a jackass?" he asked incredulously. "Appears so," Ben replied with a smirk, going over to sit next to Bella on the couch.